A.P. Giannini: Bank of America’s Original Founder - Info Graphic

Bank of America ’s entire foundation can actually be attributed to the efforts of one man. His name was A.P. Giannini. Giannini wa...

Bank of America’s entire foundation can actually be attributed to the efforts of one man. His name was A.P. Giannini. Giannini was stunned that banks at his time would refuse services to all but the wealthy among society. This greatly disheartened Giannini.

In fact:

He became so upset that he decided to open his own bank which he would name the Bank of Italy (later on it would become known as Bank of America).

The Bank of Italy specialized in lending out loans to common every day workers who just needed a bit of financial support to get ahead in life.

In its very first year of operation the Bank of Italy went on to become the third largest bank in America!

This shows you not only the common business sense of expanding your customer base to include more people, but also the genius and moxie of Giannini as an individual.

It gets better:

Even when the great San Francisco earthquake struck two years after the Bank of Italy was opened, Giannini immediately got to work.

He dug through the rubbles of his former bank and piled on some cash into a wagon which he drove into town himself.

He then set up a desk with two barrels and a plank of wood on top to begin lending money out to people that had lost everything in the quake.

With a single handshake and a judge of character, Giannini’s practice of lending money out to the common worker was truly remarkable for his day.